diff --git a/oslo_i18n/_gettextutils.py b/oslo_i18n/_gettextutils.py
index 9153b36..00028a6 100644
--- a/oslo_i18n/_gettextutils.py
+++ b/oslo_i18n/_gettextutils.py
@@ -99,3 +99,29 @@ def get_available_languages(domain):
 
     _AVAILABLE_LANGUAGES[domain] = result
     return copy.copy(result)
+
+
+_original_find = gettext.find
+_FIND_CACHE = {}
+
+
+def cached_find(domain, localedir=None, languages=None, all=0):
+    """A version of gettext.find using a cache.
+
+    gettext.find looks for mo files on the disk using os.path.exists. Those
+    don't tend to change over time, but the system calls pile up with a
+    long-running service. This caches the result so that we return the same mo
+    files, and only call find once per domain.
+    """
+    key = (domain,
+           localedir,
+           tuple(languages) if languages is not None else None,
+           all)
+    if key in _FIND_CACHE:
+        return _FIND_CACHE[key]
+    result = _original_find(domain, localedir, languages, all)
+    _FIND_CACHE[key] = result
+    return result
+
+
+gettext.find = cached_find
diff --git a/oslo_i18n/tests/test_gettextutils.py b/oslo_i18n/tests/test_gettextutils.py
index 6a30a95..2eca069 100644
--- a/oslo_i18n/tests/test_gettextutils.py
+++ b/oslo_i18n/tests/test_gettextutils.py
@@ -129,3 +129,13 @@ class GettextTest(test_base.BaseTestCase):
         unknown_domain_languages = _gettextutils.get_available_languages('huh')
         self.assertEqual(1, len(unknown_domain_languages))
         self.assertIn('en_US', unknown_domain_languages)
+
+    def test_cached_find(self):
+        domain = 'my-unique-domain'
+        key = (domain, None, None, 0)
+        self.assertNotIn(key, _gettextutils._FIND_CACHE)
+        gettext.find(domain)
+        self.assertIn(key, _gettextutils._FIND_CACHE)
+        _gettextutils._FIND_CACHE[key] = "spoof result"
+        self.assertEqual("spoof result", gettext.find(domain))
+        _gettextutils._FIND_CACHE.pop(key)